African Gas Has the Potential to do well in Europe – Wale Tinubu
Group Chief Executive Officer at Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu has said that African gas will do well in European markets.
He said this during a panel discussion at the recently concluded AfriCarribean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF).
According to Tinubu, about 100 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas has been discovered in Africa in the last 10 years in countries like Nigeria, Angola, and Algeria. He said:
“Based on the advantage of shipping routes and proximity to Europe, African gas is going to do well. We have seen cargoes come from the West coast and deliver into West Africa, we are looking forward to a bit of cross-trade between the two continents particularly with the additional refining capacity being created in Nigeria and Angola.”
Also speaking on the panel, the Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, NJ Ayuk said Africa currently does not have the funding to increase capacity from underexplored oil fields in the region. He said:
“So, you could have potential, and discoveries but if you cannot ramp it up and bring that gas you would not be able to meet demand.
So, it is important that we ramp up production and we need partners to put money in the game, so the gas can be produced. How many people are approaching Oando Plc to say let us go into joint ventures with you?
Same with Carribean companies, that’s how you ramp up gas production, it’s not just demanding it but also investing in it.”
Meanwhile, Rene Awambeng, the Global Head of Client Relations at AfreximBank noted that five of the top 30 oil-producing countries in the world are on the African continent.
The oil and gas sector contributes something like 53% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of African countries today.
He also said that in some countries like Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and Gabon, it is a very significant percentage of the GDP.
He said:
“18 African countries today are producing oil, they have about 175 million barrels of reserves, in terms of gas, over 9% of the world’s reserves of gas are in over 20 African countries which accumulate to about 18 million standard cubic feet of gas.”
The challenge for Africa
He stated further that the challenge for Africa remains how to extract these resources safely with adequate financial and technical backing.
This, a challenge he said has given rise to a partnership between the African Export-Import Bank (AfreximBank) and the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) to set up the African Energy Bank which will finance the continent’s oil and gas potential.
He also said that the Carribean is being considered as a part of the scope areas of the energy bank.
Source: Nairametrics
